Persona

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My K2K wouldn't be a true kommittment without throwing some Ingmar Bergman in there. I have, in the past, greatly enjoyed Wild Strawberries and also I had seen The Seventh Seal which, um, I'm not really sure what I think of it, but it's an interesting movie.

Persona is a film I've meant to see for along time, mainly because of its influence on my favorite Robert Altman movie, 3 Women. And the influence here is pretty obvious, what with two women who live together and slowly seem to somehow merge or switch personalities.

I like this kind of movie, that is strange and enigmatic, where the literal meaning isn't always clear. Where image and atmosphere take precedence over logic or story. I'm not sure what this movie "means," and this isn't my favorite film of its kind, but it's a good one, with a lot of imagery to ponder. There's even a couple parts where the film breaks down, and random, bizarre images (like people and weird costumes and a penis) quickly flash on the screen. I know that's kind of the definitive "art film" stereotype that would be used if one were to make a parody of this kind of movie, but I suspect that this was a relatively early use of this concept.